BPS Newsletter Cover Essay #11 (Winter 1988)
THE VITAL LINK
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
At the same time that Buddhism has begun to gain a firm foothold in
the West, its fate in its traditional Asian homelands has been
moving, sadly, in the opposite direction, towards atrophy and
decline. Already in several Asian Buddhist countries Buddhism has
been forcibly suppressed, while even in those countries which have
preserved their political integrity the Dhamma no longer occupies the
same sovereign place in people's hearts that it held in an earlier
era. Although devotional piety and a sense of Buddhist personal
identity still remain strong, throughout the breadth of Buddhist Asia
cultural and ideological forces of great power have been unleashed
which daily challenge the hegemony of the Dhamma as the key to
meaning and value for those who profess it as their refuge.
Among the changes taking place in current patterns of thinking,
perhaps the most detrimental to the Dhamma has been the rise to
prominence of a materialistic world view which focuses upon the
present life as the only field for all human endeavor. This world
view need not be assented to intellectually, with full awareness of
its implications, for it to become a major determinant of our
attitudes and conduct. Often a curious ambivalence prevails in our
minds, where with one part of the mind we profess our confidence in
the lofty principles of the Dhamma, while with the other we think and
act as if the present life were the sole occasion for human happiness
and the achievement of worldly success were the true mark of the
accomplished individual.
The rapid spread of the materialistic world view has in turn brought
about a far-ranging secularization of values that invades every nook
and cranny of our lives. This transformation of values gives
precedence to goals and attitudes diametrically opposed to those
advocated by the Dhamma, and under its impact the scales have tipped
far away even from a reasonable balance between material and
spiritual goods. Now we see acquisitiveness replacing contentment as
the reigning ideal, competition taking the place of cooperation, fast
efficiency the place of compassionate concern, and selfish indulgence
the place of abstinence and self-control.
The attempt to live simultaneously by two conflicting sets of
principles -- those being ushered in by secular materialism and those
grounded in the Dhamma -- generates a tension that contains within it
a seed of very destructive potential. Often the tension is only dimly
felt by those in the older generation, who accept the new outlook and
values without clearly perceiving the challenge they pose to
traditional Buddhist ideals. It is when the contradiction is pushed
down to the next generation, to the Buddhist youth of today, that the
inherent incompatibility of the two perspectives comes into the open
as a clearcut choice between two alternative philosophies of life --
one proposing a hierarchy of values which culminates in the spiritual
and sanctions restraint and renunciation, the other holding up the
indulgence and gratification of personal desire as the highest
conceivable goal. Since the latter appeals to strong and deep-seated
human drives, it is hardly puzzling that so many young people today
have turned away from the guidance of the Dhamma to pursue the new
paths to instant pleasure opened up by the consumer society or, in
their frustration at missed opportunities, to take to the path of
violence.
Since it is the younger generation that forms the vital link in the
continuity of Buddhism, connecting its past with its future, it is of
paramount importance that the Buddhist youth of today should retain
their fidelity to the Dhamma. The Dhamma should be for them not
merely a symbol of cultural and ethnic identity, not merely a focus
point of sentimental piety, but above all a path to be taken to
heart, personally applied, and adhered to in those critical choices
between present expediency and long-range spiritual gain. The
problem, however, is precisely how to inspire the young to look to
the Dhamma as their guide and infallible refuge.
It must be stressed that our present dilemma goes far deeper than a
breakdown of moral standards, and thus that it cannot be easily
rectified by pious preaching and moral exhortation. If conduct
deviating from the Dhamma has become widespread among today's youth,
this is because the Buddhist vision has ceased to be meaningful to
them, and it has ceased to be meaningful not because it has lost its
relevance but because it is not being presented in ways which
highlight its timeless and ever-immediate relevance.
The most urgent task facing those concerned with the preservation of
Buddhism must be the attempt to communicate to the young the central
vision at the heart of the Dhamma, the vision from which all the
specific doctrines and practices of Buddhism issue forth. This does
not require a mastery of the technical details of the Dhamma, but it
does require that we ourselves understand the Dhamma's essence and
are actively striving to make that understanding the foundation of
our lives. Both by precept and example we must show that true freedom
is to be found not in uncontrolled license, but in the control and
mastery of desire; that true happiness lies not in a proliferation of
goods, but in peace and contentment; that our relations with others
are most rewarding when they are governed not by conflict and
competition, but by kindness and compassion; and that true security
is to be achieved not by the acquisition of wealth and power, but by
the conquest of self with all its ambitions and conceits.
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